Cron Urges Western Force to Deliver Must Win at HBF Park — Force Vs Fijian Drua
Western Force head into force vs fijian drua with the urgency of a side that has little margin left. The Super Rugby Pacific clash at HBF Park on Saturday 23 May kicks off at 5:35pm, and the Force sit ninth on 22 points, six points outside sixth spot.
Simon Cron has framed the game as a test of whether his players can carry that pressure again. “It's a must win, has been for a while,” he said at Friday's CD Dodd Coaches’ Conference.
Cron's edge at HBF Park
The coach said the squad has handled the strain well. “The boys have been really good at keeping that edge,” he said, adding, “They know what they need to do. We know what we need to do as a team. It's about the way we train and then go into that game with that mindset.”
Cron said the group has already spent weeks living in that frame of mind. “As a player it's a great opportunity to learn how to handle those moments and what you're going to do in those moments. The boys have done that now for a few weeks,” he said. “It adds to the belief and understanding what to do in those moments.”
Drua pressure points
Western Force will also have to clean up the areas Cron identified from the reverse fixture in Fiji. “Execution all over the field,” he said when asked what the match demands. “You don't want to give the Drua free ball.”
He pointed directly at the earlier meeting. “We were a little bit guilty of that in our game over in Fiji. It's an area of work on and the boys have been good the last few weeks on it,” Cron said. “That (set piece) will be the starter and then obviously doing the basics well is important. Making sure we do the things that work on the ground, ball carry height, all the things that make our game work.”
Finals chase and the Waratahs
The numbers leave little room for error. Western Force are still chasing a maiden finals appearance, and the gap to sixth is six points with one regular-season home game left after this against the Waratahs in the last round.
Kids Round adds a smaller but practical incentive around the fixture, with the club offering one junior ticket for free with each paying adult ticket. For the Force, though, the more immediate issue is simpler: beat the Drua, keep the finals chase alive, and leave HBF Park with the table still in reach.
